February 2008 News Archive

Another former Dancing with the Stars contestant has landed a reality show hosting gig.

We just published a story that hyped up Ian Ziering's duties as the man in charge of Your Mama Don't Dance.

Now, season four Dancing with the Stars celebrity Billy Ray Cyrus has been tapped to host Nashville Star 6. He made the announcement during a Wednesday night appearance on NBC's The Tonight Show with Jay Leno.

"This year it is all about the dream, about the music, about persistence and never giving up faith. Putting the music first," said Cyrus. "You know I've been to the fair and I've seen the bear and I am really excited."

Wonder whether this was the third or fourth take! Eh? Eh?

Whatever. We just love The Hills for what it is - and two of the biggest reasons are Lauren Conrad and Lauren Bosworth. Friends from the Laguna Beach daze, these two are now living together and will be seen plenty on MTV this spring!

Fans of The Hills eagerly await the show's return March 24. That includes us. We're especially psyched for the footage of Lauren in Paris, France!

What, did you think there was no room remaining for reality dancing shows?

A new Lifetime series, debuting tonight, is out to prove that Dancing with the Stars and Dance War don't have a monopoly on this kind of competition.

In Your Mama Don't Dance, contestants are fooled into thinking they're appearing on a reality show with a professional partner. Instead, they are matched up with a parent! Five female dancers are matched with their dads and five male dancers with their moms.

Ian Ziering, a former Dancing with the Stars contestant, hosts the series. The judges are a random trio that include:

• Ben Vereen: Tony Award-winning actor, dancer and singer. Television credits include "The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air," "Star Trek: The Next Generation," "Touched by an Angel," "Law and Order: SVU" and "Grey's Anatomy."

• Cris Judd: Dancer, choreographer and actor. Ex-boyfriend of Jennifer Lopez.

• Vitamin C: An actress and singer, best known for her hit single "Graduation (Friends Forever)." Television credits include judging The WB series "Superstar USA," and appearing on MTV's "The Andy Dick Show" and "Celebrity Bootcamp."

Traditionally, Thursday nights are big for reality TV fans. This year is no different. Take a look below to see a trio of series recapped...

Survivor: Micronesia: The episode starts with Mikey and company arriving at camp after the Mary boot, wondering who the hell it was they just voted out. Mikey tells us that Joel is playing "a long game" when he should be playing "a short game", because it's dumb not to keep your team strong until the merge. And Mary added, what, exactly? - TVgasm

The Celebrity Apprentice: Tonight's task was to create a four page photo layout advertising a new type of Dial body wash for Redbook. Omarosa jumped all over being project manager… at first. As soon as Trump stated that PMs have a greater likelihood of being fired, Omarosa not so graciously backed out, thrusting Tito Ortiz into the role. -- Zap2It

Make Me a Supermodel: It's snowy in New York City. The models wake up to a winter wonderland outside. Ronnie Kroell offers Ben a kiss to ease his nerves before elimination. We don't get to hear what the answer is, though. Perry wakes up with a prayer to the gods of modeling. -- Buddy TV

American Idol sent four more semifinalists home last night, with one booted contestant taking the news harder than most.

Robbie Carrico and Jason Yeager were eliminated from the men's side; neither were really a surprise, as Yeager never stood out for any reason and viewers didn't buy into Carrico's attempt to look and sound like a hardcore rocker.

For the women, Alex Lushington was voted off after a considerably lackluster performance on Wednesday night. Joining her in packing up her things was Alaina Whitaker, who broke down in tears upon hearing her name called.

"Sorry, this is so embarrassing," she told host Ryan Seacrest, who consoled her with a hug, as fellow Idols comforted their fallen comrade.

Alaina Whitaker received bad news on American Idol last night. But the news has been nothing but positive so far for Brooke White, Carly Smithson, David Archuleta and others.

Sipping cool drinks, wearing shades and strolling in the sun, longtime pals Lauren Conrad and Lauren "Lo" Bosworth engage in - what else - girl talk! See below ...

These two will be back in full force as The Hills returns to MTV March 24. Check out the trailer we posted yesterday and get psyched!

Robbie Carrico - also known as an ex-boyfriend of Britney Spears, also known as a contestant on this season of American Idol - used to be a boy band singer with short hair.

Hence, the initial photo below.

Now, however, Carrico is going to such lengths to come across as a hardcore rocker on Idol that he's rumored to be wearing a wig. Take a look at the contrasting pictures now and let us know what you think:

Robbie Carrico, circa 2001 and 2008.

With his reality dating show, That's Amore, set to premiere on Sunday night, Domenico Nesci is speaking out about his search for love.

He recently sat down with our pals at Buddy TV:

Having seen Tila Tequila and how she approached having all of these people try to win her over, did you learn anything from being around her that you're sort of mimicking in how you act as the star?
I guess I saw how the show was, but I got a totally different personality than Tila, so I approach the show in a different way. I like to approach things in a funny way, no matter what it is. Even if it's something serious, I try to laugh or something in a sarcastic way sometimes, or in a funny way.

Being on the Tila Tequila show and watching her I got an idea of how it works, but I want to put my talent and personality into what is going to happen.

Are a lot of the competitions girls can win on That's Amore! sort of different and more fun?
They're much more fun and much more Italian.

Can you give us an example of some of the dates or the competitions that you're going to be putting these girls through?
Yes, first competition is a huge pool of spaghetti meatballs. Probably 2,000 dishes of spaghetti meatballs, and the girls have to do some stuff with the meatballs in their mouth. Then I ended in the pool, and I cannot tell you how, but I've never been in a pool full of spaghetti meatballs.

The feeling is really nice though. It's no good when you find meatballs in your underwear. It was in my underwear and I couldn't realize, because it was a little cold, which ones were the meatballs and what was going on also the same…I was confused between the meatballs and my real balls.

Read the full interview with Nesci now.

Maksim Chmerkovskiy may not be Dancing with the Stars this season, but the hunky professional can still take a look at the favorites on it.

That' exactly what he did during a recent interview with TV Guide:

Cristián de la Fuente and Cheryl Burke
[Cristián de la Fuente is] a good-looking dude, and Latin, and has that swagger," says Maksim. "And [two-time champion] Cheryl knows how to do her thing, getting people to the finals."

Jason Taylor and Edyta Sliwinska
Tackling the ballroom floor is nothing new for an athlete "I really like Jason," says Chmerkovskiy. "He and Edyta are going to do great together and make a beautiful couple."

Kristi Yamaguchi and Mark Ballas
The Olympic gold-medalist very well could have the mettle (get it?!?) to go far in the competition. "This pairing is one of the better ones," Maksim opines, "because they're alike. Kristi's quick and [Mark Ballas] is quick."

Marissa Jaret Winokur and Tony Dovolani
The matchup of the diminutive Hairspray star and Dovolani makes Maks more than skeptical. "She's like five feet [tall] and she's with a [six-foot] guy! In ballroom, we like the couple to be more the same height.

Monica Seles and Jonathan Roberts
On that same note, Maksim says the leggy tennis pro should ace the early rounds in the company of Roberts. "Monica is a proven athlete, trained and physically able. I like her pairing with Jonathan because she's tall and he's tall. They're a good match."

What a night it was for reality TV! And we're not even counting the performance of Brooke White on last night's American Idol. Just check out the recaps for these heavyweights in the genre...

Project Runway: This was the first part of the Project Runway finale. Our final four designers decided to go dark, goth-glam this year. Keep in mind this is the winter Bryant Park show. -- TV Guide

Big Brother: We start this episode after the veto ceremony. In the diary room, Josh explains that Matt and Natalie and Alex and Amanda are both strong couples, and the powerful foursome needs to get broken up. Alex wants to stay, but he doesn't want to campaign against his friend. -- Reality News Online

America's Next Top Model: The girls made their way to New York and the pad they are living in is gorgeous. However, there's a catch. The sleeping arrangements are far from ideal. There's one room with two to three bunk beds and there's another room with a single ginormous bed where the girls who don't get a bunk are going to have to sleep -- TV Squad